Breathe More Easily
by I Was NotA Robot
Summary: When it's Sunday, the day of Church and rain and spilt ice cream cones, Bree wakes before the morning splits the sky and runs.


**A bit of a character analysis on Bree, and maybe a realistic look into what might possibly be her head. She's always been known kind of as the 'female' of the team, who's basically shipped with everyone. I thought I'd go a little bit further with it.**

 **Based on a Tumbler prompt, "Run". My own interpretation.**

* * *

She likes to run.

It's a well-known fact in the Bionic Academy. She is, after all, the only resident speedster in the vicinity. However, it is much less-known that her incredible bionics aren't the only factor in her specialization.

On Sunday, the day of church and rain and spilt ice cream cones, she likes to wake up early. She laces her running shoes into knots, and heads out before the sun cracks through the sky to run (literal) circles around the island without powers.

She's a quick jogger, and lasts much longer than the average runner would before she leans up against a rock or a wall to take a swig of water. It's in these moments that she casts her eyes to the salmon-streaked sky, and stops to breathe.

* * *

She can stop and think about the absurdity of it all. She knows that her life isn't fiction _(she was there, after all),_ but with real sweat trickling down her face and an actual ache in her limbs, the reminder of a world of bionics is distant and faded. Really, three siblings with bionic superpowers, experiments-turned-heroes-turned-instructors who resided on a remote island training other superheroes? It sounded like something straight out of a comic book, and that really wasn't how Bree wanted her life to go.

She knows how comic books begin too well, and she's even more familiar with how they end. Bree doesn't want to end up like Batman. Murdered family, a life of paranoia and gritty exposure – no thanks. She's been compared to the Flash and Quicksilver by the media dozens of times. She's been called the 'Female Barry Allen', as well as 'Speedette'.

She's not sure which nickname she hates more.

* * *

Bree used to feel like she was running forwards. Like she was speeding off into the light of destination and possibility, undaunted by the road ahead.

Now, after all of these things that have happened, she begins to understand that she isn't hurtling towards anything at all. She is running _away_ , away from the prospect of endless fighting and struggling _(because it never ends, does it? Villain after villain arrives at her door, and she opens it every time)._ She is fleeing from the unknown, the inevitable, and the long line of pointless existence.

She didn't choose this life. The Davenport brothers chose it for her _(and subject A and C)._ This is the only life that she's ever known, but it has only just occurred to her how fruitless her family's attempts seem to be. After one mess is cleaned, another one emerges. She pushes these thoughts to the back of her mind, and instead focuses on pumping her arms and legs, driving her feet into the ground, and running as hard and fast as she can without slipping into the lure of superpowers.

* * *

After her job is finished, she slips back inside the Academy, easily dodging security cameras. Just as her hair is untied and her running shoes are shoved under a spare shelf, she hears the creak of a capsule opening, and the loud _CRASH_ that usually means that Adam has hit his head on the frame of his case.

When Chase asks her why she wasn't in her capsule, she simply shrugs and sheepishly responds that she was in the bathroom. He doesn't question her, and readily accepts her answer.

Next Sunday, it is rinse, wash, and repeat. Her morning runs might have received questioning looks had they been unearthed. After all, the three original bionics are known for training together. They're a team; a family. And maybe she should tell her brothers about her morning jogs. They are perfectly innocent, but secrecy, she's learned, is an unhealthy practice in the hero life.

But she doesn't falter in this routine.

* * *

When she sprints, maybe time slows down, just a tiny bit.

When she jogs, maybe her heart beats faster, just a little bit.

When she runs, really runs, maybe she can breathe.


End file.
